- Apple has reportedly abandoned plans for an iPhone subscription service
- It was originally rumored to release in 2022, but apparently faced numerous setbacks.
- A similar service is already offered in the form of an iPhone upgrade program.
We’ve been hearing about an iPhone subscription service since 2022, but now Apple has apparently abandoned this rumored service, which would allow you to get new iPhones with a subscription, before it could even launch.
This is according to Mark Gurman, writing for Bloomberg (via 9to5Mac) and citing “people familiar with the matter.” Gurman says this decision is “part of a broader shift in the way Apple approaches payment services.”
As a reminder, this iPhone subscription service would have supposedly allowed you to pay a monthly fee and then be able to trade in your iPhone for a new one every year. But you probably would never have had the iPhone: you’d have to return it to get a new one, and you’d probably also have to return it if you canceled the subscription, so you’d essentially be renting it instead of paying for it. off over time.
While this service may have been useful to some buyers, this claim that Apple has abandoned the idea is not entirely surprising.
Errors, regulations and competition.
For one thing, this service had reportedly already faced numerous delays and problems. Initial reports suggested the service would launch around the time of the iPhone 14, but Gurman says issues such as software bugs and regulatory concerns held it back.
Gurman speculates that the idea was eventually abandoned due to the fact that it would have competed with (and potentially upset) Apple’s wireless carrier partners, as well as due to stricter rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
It’s arguably not such a necessary service, as Apple already offers an iPhone upgrade program. This allows you to pay for your iPhone in monthly installments and optionally upgrade to a new model before paying it off if you upgrade.
So the end result would probably be similar for buyers, except that with the iPhone Upgrade Program you can finally pay for and own the phone, which apparently wouldn’t be the case with this rumored subscription service.
Of course, since Apple never announced this iPhone subscription service, we’d take all of this information with a pinch of salt: it may have never been planned at all, or it may still be in the works, and exactly as it was made. could work it could also differ from what we have heard.
But Gurman has an excellent track record of reporting on Apple, so we’re inclined to believe that it was once planned and now it’s not.
